


The Unseen Heroics of a Depressed Engineer

by cuddleswiththecrew



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Invisible Tony Stark (Literally), Mutant Tony Stark, Still Figuring Out if this'll turn into a ship, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:14:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28031457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cuddleswiththecrew/pseuds/cuddleswiththecrew
Summary: Tony is a mutant with the ability to turn invisible. Growing up in an environment where he was safest using his ability has led him to hide his identity as Iron Man, even as he is forced to put on masks for the public. After inviting the Avengers to the Tower, Tony has to work harder than he ever has to hide his two closest secrets - that he is Iron Man, and he, son of the greatest mutant hater ever, is in fact a mutant.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 70





	The Unseen Heroics of a Depressed Engineer

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry it's been so long since I've been on the site. OCD, depression, and school are a pain in the butt. I'm going to try to get back to the Tony/James story soon! But here's something I started working on to practice writing after so long.
> 
> This work was inspired by all of the Mutant Tony Stark stories out there. I'll try to list some below so that you can go discover the beautiful works of people on this site.

Rhodey always seemed to find it hilarious that _ the _ Tony Stark, possibly the loudest and most scandalous human currently alive, could turn invisible. Tony just tended to find it frustrating that his father had been such a dick about mutants, and that he’d had to discover and attend lessons at Professor X’s school in private. 

Unlike Howard, who couldn’t seem to find it in himself to give enough of a shit about his son to catch onto the many times that Tony had accidentally shifted out of site while in his presence, Rhodey had caught him within their first week on campus. It was sort of Tony’s fault that when he’d walked into Rhodey changing after a 3 day inventing binge, he’d been embarrassed enough to phase. Not his brightest moment. 

But it was probably good that Rhodey knew in the long run. After all, on of the only other people who had known, Ob - Stane, had used his knowledge about Tony’s powers to screw up Tony’s life and it definitely sucked. And Rhodey had convinced Tony to just suck it up and agree to keeping Iron Man’s identity a secret. Well, Rhodey and Tony’s own fear of discovery of his secrets. 

Howard had unintentionally left some lasting mental issues that it seemed were never going to be solved, no matter how hard Rhodey and Professor X tried. 

He sort of wished he could blame Howard for how he’d reacted to the news that the Arc Reactor was killing him but, well, that was all his own flare for the dramatics. And destruction. God, he was a horrible person and a horrible friend. Probably a good thing that the general public still didn’t know he was Iron Man. How could anyone trust someone so fucked up to rescue anyone?

The Avengers had sort of given him hope again though. He’d been able to move a bit past the pain he’d caused his friends, and save the world from Rock of Ages and the Chitauri, and seem to make friends with the Avengers. Sure, Cap definitely hated Tony Stark, but he and Iron Man seemed to get along.

Which is why he was now freaking out as the fucking Avengers entered his Tower. Oh god, Tony was going to be sick. 

“Sir, the Avengers are waiting for you in the Tower Lobby. Should I guide them towards the Avengers Common Floor?”

Tony twirled the wrench in his hand, Iron Man suit sprawled before him. The suit was basically ruined, but he was god damn going to try to fix it first. Sure, he already had a new model lined up, but fixing things was something he wanted to be good at. 

“That would be great Jarvis.” Tony set down the wrench, glancing at the holograph before him showing the Avengers entering the elevator. “Shit. Hey JARVIS, buddy, do I look presentable?”

The AI paused. “Well Sir, based on footage from four hours ago, you appeared slightly rumpled but I doubt the Avengers would mind. Due to your abilities kicking in around that time, I am unable to ascertain the state of your being currently.”

Aw shit. He was really supposed to be better at this whole ‘phasing’ thing. And yes Charles, it was totally called phasing. Screw Pryde for taking the word he’d be using longer to describe his powers. 

Tony tried to relax, and let go of the cloaking. Oh, that seemed like a decent term. Could there be some way to replicate his powers with cloaking technology, could cloaking technology be more reliable and less detectable than his own -

“Sir, Sir, I regret to inform you that the Avengers have arrived on the common floor and are waiting for your presence.

And that was why Tony loved JARVIS.

“Thanks J. Guess I better head now.” He frowned briefly. “Am I um, fully back?”

“Indeed Sir. And just in case you start to phase, I’ll alert you by buzzing your watch.” 

Tony smiled. “Thanks J.” He strode to the elevator, taking in a deep breath as it began to move upwards. “Oh, and J?”

“Yes Sir?”

“Don’t let Charles know this - and seriously, I know you like him but he cannot know, he’ll constantly hang it over me - but I think that maybe Pryde does deserve the term phase. I’m thinking that it might be more accurate to refer to my thing as cloaking?” 

Tony knew that JARVIS would never hate him, but during the moment of silence that followed the insecurities just built up despite knowing they weren’t rational.

“Cloaking does seem much more on point. I’ll make sure to refer to it as such from now on.”

He smiled. “Thanks, J.”

When the elevators opened, Tony kind of wanted to just cloak himself and hide right back in the office. The sight of Rogers, Romanov, Barton, Thor, and Banner all standing by the couches and laughing just seemed so personal, and there was no way he could intrude. 

But he really needed to show them their spaces. Plus, Banner had just met his eyes.

“Hey Tony.” The man spoke gently, but the whole group turned to him.  _ Don’t fucking cloak, do not fucking cloak Stark. _

“Mr. Stark.” Tony wanted to vomit with the distrust and disgust present in Rogers' voice, as well as the title. Fuck Howard for ruining Tony’s own last name. 

“Tony’s fine. Point Break, didn’t think you’d make it with the whole, Loki justice thing.”

And he could just see Thor tense at that. Shit, was that insensitive? God, where was Rhodey the ‘Tony Stark asshole translator’ when you needed him.’

The answer was Rhodey was being the government's personal flying machine but that was his Honey Bear - trying to protect the country he loved despite its flaws. 

“And Green Bean, it’s good to see you’re back to normal. Much as I love the big guy and everything he did to help you guys win this whole fight, I’d rather not have him running freely around the Tower.”

Bruce flinched, and awww, not his science bro too.

“Mr. Stark, maybe if we could just get on with this meeting.” Romanov looked bored, but Tony could tell she was also unamused with his comments. 

“Sure, sure, sure. So, as JARVIS may have informed you all, this is the common floor. It’s got the living room, a kitchen that JARVIS will keep fully stocked with whatever you ask, and of course a gym. There’s also a gym, but that’s located in the basement because as awesome as elves are in Lord of the Rings, I’d rather not find that our Legolas here has shot through the walls and damaged a state of the art living room.”

And now Barton was starting to look closed off, as well as Romanov and Rogers. Fuck, what the hell was going on?

Tony started to stumble. “Uh, and then there’s your personal floors. Mine of course, is the highest, followed by Iron Man’s (no need for the Avengers to know that it was actually Tony’s personal, completely off limits lab occupying that floor) this common floor, then Thor’s, Roger’s, Romanov’s, Barton’s, and finally Banner’s before a floor with a personal Hulk room in case our big guy comes to play, then a lab for Banner, before you reach a bunch of Stark Industries floors.” Tony paused. “Try not to visit down there, Pepper would make my life a living hell.” 

The watch on his wrist buzzed, and Tony freaked out, trying to pull in his emotions. He noticed his right pinky was becoming someone translucent before fully regaining control. 

“And that’s basically it. Romanov and Barton, I dunno what your personal relationship is but I figured you all might approve of a connected private stairway, so enjoy.” He wiggled his eyebrows, expecting some laughs but just received three angry expressions, and two disappointed frowns from Banner and Thor. Fuck, he really could use Rhodey right now. “Anyways, this has been great, but I’ve got some important jobs to do so I’ll leave you to it.”

Before he could fully exit though, Steve let out a “Stark” that sent a shiver down Tony’s spine, and not in a fun way. Fuck, don’t think of Obie, or Ty, or any other asshole. He breathed sharply, before turning to face Steve with a smug grin. “What’s up, Capsicle.”

And there it was, the ‘I’m very angry and if you test my patience I will throw my shield at you’ face of disapproval. “Where is Iron Man? It’s sort of important that we get into contact with him and discuss our team’s goals going forward.”

Tony laughed, and turned back around. “He’s off doing some SI work for me right now Cap. He’ll probably be gone for a few days, but I’ll send him to you as soon as he gets back.” 

And with that, Tony left. 

He realized his actions were cowardly, and that he shouldn’t be shrinking duty because of hurt feelings, but the Avengers hated Tony Stark. Yes, they may like Iron Man, but try as Tony might to be a good man, he was just an ass pretending to be one while in the suit. 

He’d long since learned that the best Tony Stark, when it came to improving the world, was a silent, invisible one. And Charles could argue with him all he wanted, but Tony knew that the Professor must agree that Tony’s brashness was annoying and made everyone worse off.


End file.
